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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28246206">A Dysfunctional Family</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaT2345/pseuds/LunaT2345'>LunaT2345</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Gen, Hurt Clint Barton, Hurt Steve Rogers, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Protective Tony Stark, Sick Steve Rogers, Sick Tony Stark, Team Bonding, Team as Family</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 01:29:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,684</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28246206</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaT2345/pseuds/LunaT2345</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>One shots of the team acting as a family. They're gonna be hurtfics, sickfics or just pure fluff. Steve is my favorite so I usually tend to write about him being the center of attention but I'll take any requests. Send them in.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bruce Banner &amp; Clint Barton &amp; Steve Rogers &amp; Natasha Romanov &amp; Tony Stark &amp; Thor, Bruce Banner &amp; Tony Stark, Steve Rogers &amp; Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers &amp; Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>78</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. A Journey From Hell</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey guys! Thanks for checking out my story! Please don't hesitate to send in any requests you might have. :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The road trip had been Fury's idea only. A chance for them to bond he had said as he tried to convince them. So that's why all the avengers except Thor who was in Asgard were piled up in Tony's car on their way to a meeting that was being hosted in a place ten hours away from their current location instead of just taking the Quinjet which would be much easier.</p><p>The first hour in the car went as smoothly as possible. Steve had slept pretty much the whole time, his head resting on Natasha's shoulder while the ex-agent read a book. Bruce and Tony spent the hour talking about some kind of science project with Clint joining them when he felt like it.</p><p>The second hour was when things started to go downhill. </p><p>Natasha was the first one to notice that something wasn't quite right with the younger man. The super soldier was curled against the door, his eyes closed tightly and he had both his arms wrapped around his stomach. For a moment she thought he was simply asleep but then the car hit a large bump on the road and she saw all the color leave Steve's face as he swallowed thickly.</p><p>"Tony, pull over." Natasha instructed urgently, placing her hand on Steve's back. The super soldier was shaking underneath her hand as he tried to keep his stomach contents inside his body. "Now."</p><p>The genius took a quickly glance at Steve through the rear mirror and winced when he saw the younger man muffled a sickly burp into his fist. Steve was on the verge of losing the battle against his stomach when Tony swerved the car to the side and finally managed to pull up against the edge of the curb.</p><p>Before the vehicle had even fully come to a stop, Natasha was unbuckling Steve's seatbelt and opening the car's door. The super soldier let out a harshly gag and vomit splashed on the ground. It pooled under the car, creating a puddle of brown mess. </p><p>Steve clutched his stomach harder and then clamped his eyes shut right before his body hitched forward again. He really tried to concentrate on Natasha's hand rubbing his back and on Bruce's voice but it was in vain and another wave of puke spilled from his mouth onto the already dirty ground.</p><p>"Shh, you're alright." Natasha reassured, lightly scratching his back.</p><p>"You done, Cap?" Clint whispered but Steve shook his head, groaning when he felt his belly flip again.</p><p>He let out a burp from the pit of his stomach and gagged again, bringing up even more than the first few times. But after that, he finally felt the nausea ease up a little.</p><p>"I'm done." Steve mumbled, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. He slumped against Natasha and let his eyes slip shut. He just needed a few seconds so he could get his bearings back.</p><p>"Carsick?" Tony asked and Steve forced his eyes open before giving a small nod.</p><p>"Think so." Steve said, pulling away from Natasha. He closed the door and settled back into the seat, resting his head against the headrest.</p><p>"But you're okay now, Cap?" Clint asked, his forehead creasing in concern. Their captain still looked pretty pale and sick in his opinion.</p><p>"Y- I'm not as nauseous." Steve really wanted to say he was completely fine but even though they weren't moving anymore, his belly was still churning lazily.</p><p>"That's an improvement." Bruce said as he finally found what he was looking for. "Has this ever happened before?"</p><p>"Not as bad." Bruce nodded. He knew that sometimes the Quinjet made Steve feel a little queasy but it was never more than that.</p><p>"Here. Just for precaution" Bruce said, handing Steve a couple of plastic bags but Romanoff beat him to it and grabbed the items.</p><p>"I'll keep them for you. Just tell me when you feel like you need them" Steve nodded and closed his eyes tightly when Tony pulled the car back onto the road.</p><p>He was disturbed, however, when he felt someone tapping his shoulder. He opened his eyes and saw Bruce holding a water bottle out to him.</p><p>“Drink.” Doctor Banner instructed. Steve took the bottle and drank without a protest. Bruce nodded and turned back to the front, starting a quietly conversation with Tony.</p><p>Steve was just dozing off again, his head resting on Natasha's shoulder when he heard Clint talking to him.</p><p>"Just give us a heads up if you feel bad again. Don't need to tough it out on your own." Clint said and Steve nodded, too tired to speak.</p><p>"You better, Rogers. You throw up on my car, you walk the rest of the way." Tony added, glancing at Steve through the rear mirror. The super soldier didn't know if the billionaire was serious or not but he didn't intend to find out.</p><p>"I wouldn't dream of it, Stark." Steve mumbled, his voice laced with sleep. He couldn't help the sigh that left his lips when felt Natasha's fingers running through his hair and in less than two minutes, he was fast asleep.</p><p>"Drive carefully, Tony. You're going too fast." Natasha whispered when she was certain that Steve was asleep. The genius was easily going over 90mph. "His stomach is still a mess."</p><p>Now that Steve was practically snuggled  onto her side, the ex-assassin could definitely hear and feel every gurgle that the super soldier's belly was making and it wasn't pretty at all.</p><p>"He asleep?" Tony asked as he slowed down the car. When he saw Natasha nodded he quickly added. "Bruce, you really think he's just carsick? I've never seem someone that bad because of some little curvers."</p><p>"Every body reacts a bit differently and he's not showing any other symptoms besides the obviously nausea so I would say it's just a bad case of car sickness." Bruce whispered. </p><p>They all nodded and for once the car was silently except for the radio playing. </p><p>***<br/>
Not even twenty minutes later, Natasha felt Steve stirring beside her. He groaned when he felt his stomach rumble loudly and he loosely wrapped his arm around his middle section, swallowing back a mouthful of stomach acid.</p><p>"Tasha?" Steve slurred, saliva quickly pooling into his mouth and he knew he couldn't fight any longer.</p><p>Thankfully Natasha reacted fast and quickly opened up a bag from their stash and held it for Steve. She could see the younger man attempting to regulate his breathing but his face continued to pale past anything Natasha had seen before.</p><p>Right on cue, Steve's shoulder rolled forward and his stomach came pouring out in a thick rush. </p><p>"Do I need to pull over again?" Tony asked, trying his best to keep his eyes on the road.</p><p>"No, it's fine. I'm fine." Steve mumbled, pushing the bag away when he was done. Tony snorted at that but he decided to ignore. He definitely wasn't in the mood to deal with Tony right now.</p><p>"Here, you need to keep drinking." Natasha held the water bottle for Steve to take it but the super soldier just shook his head. "You're gonna get dehydrated."</p><p>"It's just gonna come back up." Steve whispered and Natasha sighed but she did put the bottle down. </p><p>"You're still feeling sick?" Tony was surprised when Steve nodded not only because he was sure that there was nothing else on Steve's stomach but because the super soldier was admitting he wasn't feeling well. "There's a gas station five minutes away. We're taking a break for a few minutes."</p><p>"There's no need." Even though it sound very appealing to get out of the car, Steve didn't want to be the reason they were running behind schedule. "Really."</p><p>"I didn't ask you, Spangles. I need to pee." Tony said and through the rear mirror he saw Natasha nodding and smiling appreciatively at him.</p><p>Steve nodded and ran his fingers through his disheveled hair. He looked to his side, just now noticing that both Clint and Bruce were dozing off.</p><p>He laid his heavy head on Natasha's shoulder again and before he knew he was nodding off as well.</p><p>***<br/>
Steve slowly opened his eyes when he felt someone shaking his body. The super soldier whined when his belly gurgled unhappily at the suddenly movement and he let out a hiccup, clamping his jaw shut tight.</p><p>"Clint, the bag." Bruce quickly said when he saw all the color drain from the captain's face. </p><p>The archer grabbed the bag from the floorboard and quickly placed it under Steve's chin. The super soldier gagged and spat out some more half digested food and bile.</p><p>"I'm so sorry, Cap." Clint whispered when Steve had finished emptying his stomach. "I didn't mean to set you off."</p><p>"Don't do that again. It hurts." Steve mumbled, blinking back the tears. He was honestly fucking exhausted. </p><p>"I know. Fuck, I should've known better." Clint said, he placed his hand on Steve's shoulder, squeezing a little but when the soldier didn't try to pull away he started rubbing soothing circles on his back. His kids liked this kinda of comfort so he was pretty sure Steve would appreciate it too.</p><p>"Here, drink it all. You must be seriously dehydrated by now." Bruce handed him a red Gatorade that he had bought  from the convenience store but just like he did when Natasha had tried to offer him the water bottle he shook his head. He wasn't gonna be able to keep it down.</p><p>"Captain, it's for your own good." He was gonna keep pressing but he saw Steve swallow thickly again and he frowned. "You're still nauseous, Steve? Tony stopped driving almost half an hour ago."</p><p>"Kinda of." Steve whispered, placing his hand on his upset stomach. "Where are Tony and Natasha?" </p><p>"They went to get something to eat and Tony said he would check the convenience store after." Clint explained.</p><p>Just as Clint finished talking, Tony and Natasha showed up with a lot of store bags between them. "How's your patience?" Tony asked as he opened the door on Steve's side and peered inside.</p><p>"He threw up again." Clint admitted, ignoring the glare he received from Steve. Natasha looked concerned at the Captain and Steve really tried to smile reassuringly but he knew he had failed completely.</p><p>"Bruce switch places with Steve. I read somewhere that sitting on the front usually helps with the nausea." Tony said. "Do you need help or you can manage?"</p><p>"I'm not dying, you know." Steve easily answered and stood up. His body, however, wasn't ready for that suddenly change in position and the super soldier was assaulted by huge wave of dizziness.</p><p>Tony quickly grabbed Steve's shoulder when he saw the super soldier's knees buckle and pulled him closer. The younger man buried his face on the genius's shoulder, trying to stop the world from spinning.</p><p>"That mister was your blood pressure screaming at you." Bruce explained, placing his two fingers on Steve's wrist. "Tony is going to help you to your seat and then you're drinking this whole bottle." </p><p>Steve whined and Tony couldn't help but chuckle. Even though Bruce claimed he wasn't that kinda of doctor, everytime that one of the avengers was hurt or sick he usually acted as their private doctor at least until the situation got too bad and then they needed a real specialist.</p><p>"Are you ready, big guy?" Tony felt Steve nodded and then he pretty much carried the younger man, placing him on the passenger's seat.</p><p>"You good, Rogers? " Natasha asked as she reached over him and buckled his seatbelt. She ran her fingers through his hair, giving him a small smile.</p><p>"Yeah. Thanks" Steve said, returning the smile. She nodded and then went back to her seat with Bruce doing the same.</p><p>Tony closed the door and then went over to his seat as well. He searched through the bags until he found what he was looking for. "Just in case." Tony explained as he put the sick bags on the space between the seats.</p><p>"What's in the other bags?" Clint asked, pointing to the ones that Tony hadn't touched.</p><p>"Snacks, water bottles, ginger ale for the sicko, different colors of Gatorade also for the sick guy and a couple other things." Tony explained as he started the car and pulled on the road.</p><p>"Speaking of gatorade, here Cap." Bruce said, handing Steve the bottle. When the doctor saw the super soldier hesitated a bit, he added. "You don't need to drink it all just try to."</p><p>Steve nodded and took a sip of the red liquid. When his stomach didn't protest, he sighed in relief and took a couple more sips.</p><p>"How much longer until we get there?" Clint asked, groaning quietly under his breath when Tony pointed to the GPS. They still had a little over six hours to go without stopping which Clint knew wasn't likely to happen.</p><p>Steve managed to drink a little over half of the Gatorade before he started to feel his belly rumbled quietly beneath his hand. He placed the bottle down before gently rubbing the sore area.</p><p>The sound of his teammates voice was slowly lulling him to sleep. Steve felt his eyelids getting heavier and heavier and before he realized he was dozing off again. He curled on his seat the best he could with his arm protectively around his middle.</p><p>***<br/>
Tony quickly looked to his side when he heard Steve whimper. It was such a small sound that hadn't the car been so silently he wouldn't have been able to hear it. The younger man looked terrible with dark bags under his eyes and Tony could see he was sweating profusely.</p><p>This time, Steve's stomach gurgled loudly and Tony winced at the sound. The super soldier's eyes shot open after that and the billionaire saw Steve taking deep breaths as he tried to control the nausea.</p><p>"You good, Cap?" Tony asked not taking his eyes off the road. He knew things were really bad when Steve shook his head.</p><p>" 'm really really nauseous 'gain." Steve mumbled, bringing his knees closer to his chest. He buried his head on them and let the tears that he had been holding since Clint woke him up fall freely from his eyes. He just wished that they would magically arrive at the meeting so he could sleep afterwards and pretend that this day didn't happen.</p><p>The problem was that he was never unwell so why the only day he was stuck in a car with his friends his body decided to betray him like that?</p><p>"Oh gosh." Tony mumbled when he saw Steve shaking beside him. He quickly turned around, groaning when he saw the three of them asleep. He honestly didn't know what to do.</p><p>"Hey Cap, just take deep breaths. You're alright, kid." Tony placed his right hand on Steve's back, gently rubbing his hand up and down. The genius quickly stopped, however, when he realized how Steve's shirt was drenched in sweat.</p><p>Tony, then, placed his hand on the back of Steve's neck and winced at heat radiation of his skin. "Just car sickness my ass." Tony grumbled under his breath.</p><p>Tony felt Steve tensed up as the soldier pressed a fist to his mouth, a queasy belch escaping his lips. Natasha, thankfully heard the commotion and grabbed the sick bag.</p><p>"Steve, don't hold it. If you need to puke, you need to puke. That's only gonna make you feel worse. Trust me." Natasha whispered, taking Tony's place and now she was rubbing Steve's back.</p><p>"I don' wanna." Steve mumbled but he did lift his head up to look at them. His face was bright red not only because of the fever but also because of the crying and his eyes were red rimmed.</p><p>The Captain opened his mouth to say something else but he was overwhelmed with a urge to gag. This time, Natasha was a bit too slow. Steve's body jerked forward and he vomited onto his lap. He didn't even had time to aime somewhere else when his body violently heaved again and vomit splattered terribly all over the car's floor, his jeans and his shoes.</p><p>"Shit, shit, shit" Tony swerved the car to the side of the road with a loud deafening screech.</p><p>Tony hit the brakes and was out of the car and went around to Steve's side.</p><p>"So-sorry Tony. I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I couldn't… couldn't stop it," Steve stuttered as the billionaire violently opened the door.</p><p>Tony saw the younger man tremble and the look in his eyes was confused and he thought he saw a shade of fear in them. Then he remembered what he had just said about throwing Steve out of the car if he threw up in it. He leaned down so that his eyes were at the same level as Rogers's. "It's okay, kiddo. I'm just going to help you get cleaned up. Clint, give me the water bottle." He said when he saw that now everyone was awake and watching them.</p><p>Steve took a few sips and then Tony started to help him get his ruined shirt off. Natasha grabbed a new hoodie from Steve's bag and handed it to Tony who helped him get dressed. Tony turned around when Steve took off his jeans and replaced them with navy sweatpants.</p><p>Bruce leaned over them and placed the back of his hand on Steve's forehead. "I can't say exactly how warm he is but he's definitely burning up." Bruce explained, letting his hand a bit longer than necessary on the super soldier's forehead when he saw Steve unconsciously lean on it.</p><p>"So he's not carsick?" Clint asked, getting out the car to try and help Tony cleaned up the car the best they could.</p><p>"I'm afraid not. I think Steve managed to pick up a rather nasty stomach bug." Bruce said, grabbing the ginger ale and passing it to Steve. "Take a few sips."</p><p>"What about the serum? Shouldn't it prevent Steve from getting this sick?" Natasha joined the conversation while gently playing with Steve's hair.</p><p>"We're all tired from the latest missions and meeting, Steve included. So my guess is that made him more susceptible to these virus even with the serum." Bruce explained.</p><p>"Well, since I'm a very prepared guy, I bought this. I thought it might come in handy." Tony said as he grabbed a blanket from the bag.</p><p>"An Iron Man blanket?" Natasha asked, trying hard not to smile when he saw Steve's cheeks turning even redder.</p><p>"Of course. It's the best." Tony went to Steve's side again and carefully draped the blanket over the younger man trembling body.</p><p>"Awn, that was really sweet, Tony." Clint  mocked from the backseat. "You really do have an heart." </p><p>"Shut up, Birdman." Tony grumbled, feeling his own face reddened in embarrassment. "Try to get some more sleep, Cap. It's the best for you."</p><p>Steve nodded and snuggled further into the blanket. "Thank you." Steve whispered so only Tony could hear it. The genius gave his shoulder a gently squeeze before closing the car's door.</p><p>Steve was out like a light, snoring softly within seconds.</p><p>***<br/>
"I already called Fury to let him know about our situation and that we're stopping in a hotel for at least a night." Clint announced, grimacing when he heard Steve puking again.</p><p>"Good 'cause he's gonna die if he keeps up like this." Tony said, nodding at Steve who had his face buried in the sick bag that Romanoff was holding open for him.</p><p>"Not that bad." Steve mumbled as he closed his eyes against the dizziness that threatened to overwhelm him.</p><p>They had stopped moving again when Steve threw up again for the third time in a row and now they were just waiting for the nausea feeling to pass. The super soldier was trying to act tough but Tony knew he wasn't far away from having an emotional breakdown. Not that he blamed the guy if he was in Steve's shoes he would've been a sobbing mess much earlier.</p><p>"Clint, you switch places with me. Bruce you take Cap's place." Tony said. The front seat didn't seem to help at all with Steve's nausea so he thought it wouldn't hurt to try something else.</p><p>"You gonna let me drive your car?" Clint asked already climbing out of the car. "Sweet."</p><p>"If you scratch her, you're dead." Tony muttered, as he climbed on the backseat beside Natasha. Steve sat on his other side, his face gray from just the simple steps.</p><p>"Bruce, can you grab the pepto bismol? It's in one of those bags." Tony asked, pointing to the bags on the floorboard.</p><p>"Dude, how much did you spend in that store?" Clint asked, things didn't stop appearing.</p><p>Tony decided to ignore Barton and returned his attention to Steve who was curled against the door. "Here" He said, holding the bottle of medicine for him.</p><p>"You know, that doesn't work on me. Serum." Steve mumbled, his eyelids half open. </p><p>"Just humor me, then." Steve sighed but took the pink medicine from Tony's hand and took a long gulp.</p><p>"Happy?" Steve muttered and was about to return to his old position when Tony pulled him closer.</p><p>"I don't bite. Usually." Tony whispered, watching as Steve slowly nodded. The super soldier then unconsciously curled closer to Tony's warm body and his eyes instantly dropped shut.</p><p>Tony cautiously placed his hand on Steve's stomach. When he didn't seem to flinch in pain, he added a bit of pressure and started to run in slow circles. Steve hummed contently and Tony continued until the younger man's breathing became heavier and slower, letting him know he was asleep.</p><p>****<br/>
Unfortunately, it didn't end there like Tony hoped it would. Steve's stomach was still making nasty noises and the billionaire could feel it stirring under his hand. The poor kid just couldn't get a break. Tony saw the discomfort on the soldier's sleeping face and shared a sympathetic look with Natasha and Bruce.</p><p>About thirty minutes later, Steve was looking very pale, almost green. Tony didn't know if he should wake him up or if he would be fine for a while. He was just about to ask Bruce what he thought when he felt Steve tensed up a bit. He relaxed again and Tony watched him to see what happened. Not even five seconds later, he tensed again and Tony realized that it was his stomach heaving in his sleep.</p><p>Tony didn't want to clean up any more vomit today so he sat Steve up, waking him up in the process. The poor guy didn't even had time to react to how he was feeling, because Natasha was shoving the sick bag under his chin and he was already hurling again. Tony kept a gently hand on his convulsing stomach while Bruce spoke soothing words to him.</p><p>Steve puked until there was nothing left and even then he kept dry heaving. As he sat there breathing raggedly with spit hanging from his lips, Tony realized he was barely awake. Natasha grabbed a few tissues from the box and wiped his mouth for him while Tony rubbed his back.</p><p>The warmth of the blanket and the soothing sound of Tony's heartbeat were enough to send Steve right back to dreamland. That one he probably wouldn't even remember.</p><p>"That was rough" Clint muttered, hating that he couldn't help now that he was driving.</p><p>"It was indeed but he's already sleeping again. Hopefully it's just a twenty four hour bug." Bruce added, turning around so he could see Steve's face. The poor guy's face was buried into Tony's chest as the genius unconsciously played with Steve's hair.</p><p>"How long until we get to the hotel?" Tony asked. He could feel that Steve's stomach had calmed down after his last bout of sickness but he didn't want to take any chances.</p><p>"A little bit over 30 minutes." Natasha answered. "Hopefully he can sleep until we get there."</p><p>"I hope so." Tony muttered, letting his own eyes slip closed.</p><p>***<br/>
"Finally." Clint muttered when forty minutes later he pulled off the road and into a hotel parking lot. Steve had thankfully slept the rest of the way but Clint couldn't wait to get out of the car.</p><p>"Should we wake them up?" Bruce whispered, nodding towards the backseat.</p><p>The archer turned around and couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face when he saw Black Widow, Iron Man and Captain America all fast asleep.</p><p>"Yeah but first let me register this moment." Clint whispered as he unlocked his phone and snapped a picture of the trio.</p><p>"I'm gonna kill you, Barton." Tony muttered, opening his eyes.</p><p>"No, you won't." Steve mumbled his voice laced with sleep. He lift his head off Tony's chest, smiling sheepishly at the inventor. "Sorry."</p><p>"Feeling better, Cap?" Natasha asked as she stretched beside them. </p><p>"Not one hundred percent yet but definitely better." Steve admitted.</p><p>The team assisted him out of the car and into a room. They took care of him even after he collapsed onto the bed. As soon as they were done hovering he closed his eyes and immediately fell into a much needed sleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Stranded (Part 1)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was supposed to be a simple mission, a get in and get out one. There was no need for more than three experienced people to be involved. They just had to invade a Hydra facility that they were told was abandoned and gathered as much information as they could and then leave. It couldn't get any easier than this, they had thought.</p><p>Of course, as everything related to the avengers, but especially Clint, Tony and Steve, things didn't go as planned. They had barely set a foot on the property when the first shot rang out, missing Clint's head by an inch. He would have to thank Stark later for that. He was the one who pushed him out of the bullet's way.</p><p>After that, everything was a completely blur. There were several well trained Hydra agents and too little of them. Steve and Tony tried to contain the area by eliminating as many agents as they could while dodging bullets and trying to protect Clint. The archer had to admit that he stood no chance against their powerful weapons without being able to use his arrows since he didn't have a good cover.</p><p>However, that didn't mean it was an easy battle for him. It was probably one of his hardest, if he was being honest with himself. He just stood there, powerless to do pretty anything, waiting for his teammates to do all the hard work. </p><p>Clint had to watch Tony take quite a few bullets as he tried to protect them with the Iron Man armour and Steve and a Hydra agent falling down from the top of the building to the ground. The agent had died instantly but the super soldier had just brushed off and kept on fighting. Even with the odds of leaving that place unscathed being pretty low, they fought.</p><p>But then, everything went to hell.</p><p>They were doing pretty good, they had killed more than half of the rebels when a blast from one of Hydra top guns hit Tony straight on the chest. The genius was taken by surprise and he ended up losing control of his flight, dropping down unconscious on the floor. </p><p>"We gotta go, Cap." Clint yelled, trying to be heard over all the noise in the room. There was no way they would win this time, not without Iron Man's help and the archer could see that Steve was tiring, his movements sluggishly and even his aim was a bit off.</p><p>Steve absolutley hated to leave a mission unfinished but this time he didn't had a choice. His teammates came first than his reputation. So, he gave Clint a nod and ran to where Tony laid unmoving, using his shield as protection.</p><p>He scooped Tony up bridal style,  ignoring when the added weight from the armour intensified the pain from the various injuries and aches he had sustained in the battle. The billionaire didn't even stir at the change of position.</p><p>"Go." Steve instructed while running towards the back exit. He gave a quickly look over his shoulder to see if Hawkeye was coming and sure enough the archer was right behind him as well as a few remaining Hydra agents. </p><p>"Damn it." Clint muttered under his breath when he also realized they had company. He fired a couple of shots with a gun he had stolen from one of their fallen members and two of them dropped to the ground. </p><p>And they kept on running.</p><p>"Run faster, they're getting tired." Steve ordered in his best Captain America's voice. His lungs were really burning, begging for oxygen, which was really weird because he usually ran longer and faster than this just on the daily basis. But he usually doesn't have a unconscious teammate, he thought.</p><p>"Right behind you." Clint yelled, just avoiding tripping on a tree truck.</p><p>Steve shifted Tony a bit, trying to get some weight off his left side. His left shoulder was absolutely killing him. This time, the inventor let out a quietly groan that was muffled by his helmet but he was still very much passed out.</p><p>They kept on running for approximately twenty minutes more and then Steve, finally, stop hearing their footsteps.</p><p>"Think we lost them." Steve said, leaning against a tree's trunk with Tony still on his arms. He closed his eyes in an attempt to control his breathing and the dizzy feeling he couldn't shake it off.</p><p>"Yeah, think we're all clear." Clint informed once he had checked out the area. They were in the middle of nowhere, deep in the woods, there was no sign of live besides the birds chirping. "You can set him down now, Cap. You look like you're about to pass out too."</p><p>"I'm fine, Barton." Steve muttered but he did placed the billionaire down, laying him flat on his back. Once his hands were free, the super soldier gently prodded his left shoulder, trying to find the source of the consistently pain he was feeling. He frowned when he didn't find a thing. </p><p>"We need to get this thing off him." Clint said, kneeling down beside his fallen friend. He knew there was a button that Stark had specifically designed for emergencies like this one where they could remove the armour from the outside. He just didn't remember where it was.</p><p>"Over there." Steve pointed to where he knew the button was located. He crouched down beside them, purposely ignoring the way the world spun around him and the way his middle throbbed.</p><p>Clint pressed the button on Tony's armour, sighing in relief, when he saw that it was still working and the armour was taken off, leaving the inventor in a black sweatshirt and grey sweatpants. Steve helped remove Tony's helmet from his head, revealing a very much passed out superhero. The super soldier placed his index and middle fingers on Tony's neck, finding a slow but steady pulse.</p><p>Clint lift the genius's sweatshirt and saw that Tony's chest was a mess of purple bruises but none of them seemed life threatening. "His chest seems fine. He's got some serious bruises going on but nothing too serious."</p><p>Steve carefully turned the unconscious man's head, earning another groan from Tony, and sure enough there was an huge bump in the format of a goose egg on the back of his head "Yeah, definitely a concussion. See?"</p><p>"It looks painful." Clint said, carefully touching the bump. The billionaire tried to pull away from the touch, a whimper escaping his lips. "Sorry."</p><p>"Stark, Stark, wake up." Steve called out, gently tapping his cheeks. The inventor whined and tried to pull away again but the soldier quickly held Tony's shoulder, effectively stopping his movements. "C'mon, Tony, don't be difficult."</p><p>It took a few more seconds, then Tony's eyes slowly slid open and Steve could see that his pupils weren't the same size. Damn it. It took a while for the billionaire's eyes to focus on Steve's blue ones and even then he was seeing two of the younger man.</p><p>"There you go. How're feeling?" Steve asked, keeping his voice low for Tony's sake. </p><p>The oldest of the three groaned, his face paling even though he had yet to move. "Head."</p><p>"Yeah, you took quite the fall." Clint answered this time. Tony turned his head to the side in a instinctively movement as he tried to find the owner of the voice and immediately regretted as pain shot through the back of his head.</p><p>"Hey, don't do that." Steve ordered, guiding Tony's hand away from his head when he saw the inventor trying to touch the bump. "Leave it alone, Stark."</p><p>"Y- you're really bossy, Capsicle." Tony mumbled, his voice slurring slightly but Steve for once appreciated the joking tone. That was good. That meant things weren't that bad if Tony was being his usual self. "Now, help me up."</p><p>"As you wish." Clint said, grabbing one of the genius's arm while Steve took the other. </p><p>They carefully helped Tony up, the color draining from he's face with every inch of progress they made. By the time they were done, the billionaire was pale white and sweating. He slumped against Steve and he could swear that he felt the super soldier buckled under his weight.</p><p>Tony shifted slightly and this once Steve couldn't help the groan that left his lips when the older man leaned heavily on what the super soldier was pretty sure were some bruised ribs. He squeezed his eyes shut against the pain as he attempted to control his breathing.</p><p>"Hey, hey, Cap, you okay?" Steve forced his eyes open at the sound of Clint's worriedly voice, nodding appreciatively once he saw that the archer had pulled Tony away from him and now Stark was leaning against a tree trunk instead of him.</p><p>"I'm fine. Just got some bruised ribs and I forgot how painfully they were." Judging by the pain he was feeling, Steve wouldn't be surprised if a few them were broken.</p><p>"You sure?" Clint asked, his gaze fixed on Steve's blue eyes as he tried to see if the the younger man was telling him the truth or was hiding something else.</p><p>"His arm hurts." Tony stated, pointing to the left limb. "You've been favoring your left side." He added when he saw both Steve and Clint share a confused look. Even though his vision was still a bit blurry and all, he had noticed pretty quickly that something was wrong with that side as the super soldier had barely moved his left arm.</p><p>"My shoulder, yeah." Steve mumbled, his cheeks turning a nice shade of red. He was their leader, their captain, he wasn't supposed to be in pain because of a simply ache in his shoulder. "It's bothering me a bit. No big deal."</p><p>"I'll be the judge of that." Clint said, standing up. He waved Steve off when he tried to stop him and crouched down behind the super soldier.</p><p>The archer gently prodded the sore shoulder but his forehead creased in concern when he didn't see anything apparently. "I don't see anything" He unzipped Steve's uniform a bit so he could check out properly.</p><p>The super soldier let his eyes slip shut for a second when he felt some of the pressure caused by his uniform ease off. He winced, however, when he felt Clint's fingers pressing on his shoulder.</p><p>"Now, I see some bruising but nothing too bad. You did take quite the fall back there as well." Clint explained, zipping Steve's uniform back up. He patted the younger man's back before getting up again.</p><p>"I told you it was nothing." Steve said, rolling his left shoulder and this time it took all his effort to keep from crying out. He honestly didn't know why it was hurting that badly. He had checked and there was nothing that could be causing this much discomfort and so did Clint.</p><p>"We should get going, it's gonna get dark soon and we gonna need to find a place to crash for the night." They were supposed to spend that night in a hotel miles away from that currently location now and be picked up tomorrow afternoon. </p><p>Of course, that wasn't happening anymore. Now, they had to wait until the other avengers were notified of their failed mission and that would probably happen the day after tomorrow. Which means that they definitely needed to find a place to stay because not only they were completely vulnerable out there but they had absolutely nothing. No medicine, no food, no water.</p><p>"Hawkeye is right. We better go now." Steve said, as he carefully stood up. That didn't work out either. A wave of dizziness washed over him and he would have definitely toppled over if Clint hadn't held him.</p><p>"Jeez, you're worse than me, Cap." Clint shot Tony a look and the genius shrugged. "Sorry."</p><p>"I just stood up too fast, I'm good." Steve said, brushing the archer's hand off his arm. "Just need to eat something." Steve knew he had said the right thing when both men concerned faces dissapeared a bit. After all, his metabolism did work way faster than theirs.</p><p>Steve strapped his shield onto his back with expertise and then went to help Clint with Tony.</p><p>"Ready, Tones?" Clint asked, taking hold of the genius's outstretched hand. When the older man nodded, the archer slowly pulled him up.</p><p>"Fuck." Tony muttered, closing his eyes when the dizzy feeling skyrocketed. He felt his body start to sway from side to side and he was pretty sure he would have passed out if it wasn't someone's strong hands, holding him steady.</p><p>"Take your time, Tony." When the billionaire realized that it was Steve who was holding him up, he tried to take some of his weight off the younger man so he didn't crush his ribs like last time.</p><p>They spent quite a few minutes like these with Tony's face pressed on the super soldier's chest as he willed the dizziness away. </p><p>" 'm good." Tony whispered, pulling away from Steve. He couldn't help but feel very proud when this time his legs were able to support his weight without any assistance. "We can go now."</p><p>"Are we leaving your armour behind or not?" Clint asked, pointing to the discarded metal. </p><p>"Hell no." Tony answered quickly, looking like he just noticed that he was without his armour. "It's probably not working anymore but I can still wear it."</p><p>The inventor pressed the button on his wristband, hoping that it would still work. It did. In a matter of seconds he was once again dressed in the Iron Man's armour. And he was right, all the features of the armour weren't working thanks to his fall but just the feeling of safety was enough for him.</p><p>"Let's get out of here." Steve said, pulling Tony's arm over his shoulder. He cursed under his breath when his shoulder screamed at him but he didn't let the pain show this time.</p><p>"I can take him, Cap. You just said that you shoulder was bothering you." Clint suggested, even though he knew that the captain wasn't going to accept that offer. The young man was stubborn like that.</p><p>"I can walk just fine on my own, you know." Tony muttered, pulling away from the super soldier. His vision was a still a bit blurry and out of focus, yes, but nothing he couldn't deal with it. At least, the world had stopped spinning uncontrollably.</p><p>"No, you definitely can't. Stop being so stubborn. I'm fine." Steve said exasperated. He was tired and achy and all he wanted was to find a place where he could rest for just a few minutes. The serum would take care of the rest, he was sure.</p><p>"You're the one to talk." Clint muttered quietly to himself. Why he had to have two stubborn and stupid people as his teammates? </p><p>"If you say so. Just tell me when you want to switch or you know what I have a better idea, don't tell me, I know that this is what you will do anyway." The archer mumbled as he started to walk, leaving Tony and Steve a bit shocked at his sudden outburst.</p><p>"What?" Steve asked more to himself than anyone else while following Clint. He was silently glad when he saw that Tony was able to carry practically all his weight and was doing a pretty good job at keeping up with him.</p><p>"Give him a break. He's just mad at himself because there is nothing he can do about this whole situation." Tony piped in, watching as the archer even in his pissed off state slowed down his pace so they could catch up with him.</p><p>"I think the fall messed up with your brain. When did you become the sensible one?" Steve teased, chuckling softly when he saw Tony glaring at him.</p><p>"Shut up, Spangles." The genius muttered, shaking his head at the super soldier chuckle. </p><p>And further into the woods they went.</p><p>****</p><p>Thirty minutes later they were getting nowhere. All they could see were trees, trees and more trees. They could be walking in circles for all Steve knew, he was just blindly following Clint and focusing all his efforts in putting one foot in front of the other.</p><p>His gut had started cramping furiously five minutes ago and he was having a hard time shaking off a wave of nausea that absolutely refused to pass. And he was so tired that he was almost certain that he could fall asleep upright.</p><p>"I need a break." Tony announced, pinching the bridge of his nose as his headache intensified a notch. He pulled away from Steve and gently massaged his temples.</p><p>"Barton, let's stop for a bit." Steve said, placing his shield against a tree. When he saw that no one was watching him, he let his eyes slip shut and he carefully touched his left ribs, noticing that the area was a bit tender.</p><p>"You okay, Stark?" Clint asked, stopping in front of the inventor as he observed the billionaire taking off his helmet.</p><p>Tony definitely looked paler than his usual tan self and he was sure he still had an headache but other than that he seemed relatively fine, even his pupils were almost back to normal. And knowing Stark as well as he thought he did, he was pretty certain that the older man wouldn't be stopped by a simple headache.</p><p>"Yeah. Just need to take a break for a few minutes." Tony answered as he carefully lowered his body until he was leaning against a tree's trunk. "It's not like we're making much progress anyway."</p><p>Steve huffed at that before slowly making his way over to them. He sat down beside the inventor, sighing in relief, once he was off his feet. He mentally thanked Stark because his body was desperately needing a break as well.</p><p>"I'm starving." Clint muttered, laying down on the ground in front of them. He muffled a yawn into his fist, the tiredness finally settling in his bones.</p><p>"Me too, man." Tony said, feeling his own stomach growl just at the mention of food. "I'm optimistically that I could beat Cap and Thor on a competition of who can eat the most right now."</p><p>Steve forced his eyes open when he heard his name being said, not even realizing he had closed them in the first place. He had no idea what Tony and Clint were talking about so he just smiled politely and nodded a couple of times.</p><p>They talked for a few more minutes before a comfortable silence fell on them and they enjoyed it after the chaotic day they had and were still having it.</p><p>"You should do the same." Clint suggested, nodding towards Steve who seemed to be dozing off, his head slipping off the tree's trunk every couple of seconds. "You were the one who suggested the break after all."</p><p>"I'm good. You go ahead and catch some zzz's if you want to." Tony said, guiding Steve's head to rest on his shoulder. The armour was far from being comfortable but he thought it was better than the trunk.</p><p>Clint nodded and rolled over so he was facing the other side. Tony doubted that he would follow his suggestion the archer wasn't one to let his guard down that easily but at least he was resting.</p><p>Tony stirred, trying to get more comfortable and this time he could clearly see the grimace on Steve's face. To be honest, he had just asked for a break because he had noticed that the super soldier was really needing one but of course he was too stubbornly to ask for one himself. </p><p>"Shit." Tony whispered when he heard a loudly rumble from the sky. He looked up and sure enough the once clear sky was full of dark clouds now. There was exactly what they needed a fucking storm.</p><p>Steve shivered beside him, a chill running through his body. The billionaire frowned and carefully as to not disturb his sleeping teammate neither hurt his ribs brought the younger man closer to him. With the armour he was pretty much sheltered from the elements but his teammates were not. Although, Clint seemed unbothered by the imminent storm or he was in fact dozing off too. He didn't know.</p><p>Tony would let them rest for a while longer then they would have to move to hopefully find a place where they could spend the next two nights until his other teammates started a search party for them. He was one hundred percent certain that Bruce, Natasha and Thor were capable of finding them. He just really hopped it was sooner rather than later.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This particularly story will have three to four chapters  because it would be a too long of an one shot. Hope you guys like!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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